DENVER (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Lakers appeared headed for
victory despite playing without Shaquille O'Neal. But the Denver
Nuggets took advantage of his absence in crunch time to rally
for an improbable victory.

Trailing badly in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets reeled off 17
straight points and held off the stunned Lakers for a spirited
87-86 victory.

O'Neal was scratched just prior to game time due to a sprained
left ankle. It appeared the Lakers would not need the NBA's Most
Valuable Player as they built an 82-69 lead with 7:08 left.

But Los Angeles appeared unsure down the stretch, going nearly
five minutes without a point and allowing Denver to crawl back
into the game.

"We were at the height of inefficiency at the end of the game,"
Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "I don't know why we were
taking 3-pointers, we had opportunities, we just didn't play it
right."

With the score tied at 82-82, former Laker Nick Van Exel stole
the ball and fed James Posey for a layup that put the Nuggets
ahead to stay with just under three minutes remaining.

Antonio McDyess, who matched a season high with 28 points and
grabbed 18 rebounds, followed with a 15-foot baseline jumper
that capped the 17-0 surge and extended the lead to 86-82 with
nearly two minutes to go.

Bryant snapped the Lakers drought with a pair of free throws at
the 1:40 mark and Posey made one of two from the line, giving
the Nuggets a three-point lead.

Bryant cut the deficit to 87-86 with a spinning jumper with 1:18
to play but misfired from 15 feet after a turnover by Posey.

The Lakers had one more opportunity to take the lead, calling
timeout after a missed jumper by Van Exel with 17 seconds left.
But Los Angeles never got a shot off, as Isaiah Rider looked to
pass with the clock winding down.

"I was surprised Phil called my number because Kobe had been
hot," Rider said. "The play was designed for me to post up but
McDyess made me change my mind on going inside and made me step
out and time ran out."

"It felt good even though Shaq didn't play," McDyess said. "We
really kept our composure in the fourth quarter. That's a great
team and we came out with a big victory. We had a discussion
that we had to take advantage of Shaq's injury. They didn't have
any shot blockers or inside presence so we could take it
(inside). We also got a lot of rebounds."

Denver won the battle of the boards, 55-41.

Kobe Bryant scored 32 points for the Lakers, who lost for only
the third time in 16 meetings with Denver. Bryant has scored at
least 30 points in five consecutive contests.

After a sluggish first quarter which saw the Lakers fall behind
28-18, Los Angeles began to heat up, with Bryant leading the
way. The versatile All-Star scored 10 points in the second
period, as did Robert Horry, as the defending champions took a
51-47 halftime lead.

McDyess accounted for 11 of Denver's 19 points in the session.

Los Angeles trailed by one midway through the third quarter when
Bryant collected 10 points during a 16-4 run that provided the
Lakers a 71-60 lead in the final minute of the period. They
took a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter.

"I've seen too many games where a team is without their star and
they still win," Nuggets coach Dan Issel said. "They are the
world champs because they are a pretty darn good team, not just
because of Kobe and Shaq. But without Shaq in the game, we
didn't have to double-team down low and it permitted us to play
tougher perimeter defense."